Article published on December 14th 2018
- 100 years ago, after decades of campaigning, women were finally given the right to vote in British elections.
- The December general election of 1918, saw 8.5 million women eligible to vote and 17 female candidates stood for election. (Only one was elected and she never went to Parliament.)
- Called in the immediate aftermath of WW1.
- Sometimes referred to as the Fourth Reform Act.
Women still didn't have the same rights as men
- Before WW1, only men who owned a certain amount of property had been able to vote.
- About 60% of male householders had the vote, but millions of men didn't.
- Including many returning soldiers.
- The Act abolished the property qualification, allowing all classes over the age of 21 to vote - as long as they were male.
- Women were discriminated against.
- Women ended property qualifications.
- Measured by the value of the property they lived in, which had an annual rent of £5. (equal to £1000 today)
- Only women over the age of 30 were allowed to vote.
Fears of out-voting men
- About 40% of Britain's female population, and women also made up 40% of the electorate (21.4 million people in 1918).
- Due to the deaths of the First World War, there were over a million more women than men in Britain, and the age limit was introduced to prevent women from being in a political majority.
- Suffrage campaigners like Milicent Fawcett were disappointed at the continued discrimination, but accepted it as a necessary and temporary compromise to get the vote.
In conclusion, I found this article to be credible, due to it being part of the Museum Of London.
(In the post above, I have noted my findings for further use, all information is from the link at the top of this page.)
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